speaker reviews

I admit it: I like big speakers, the bigger the better as far as I'm concerned.

Big speakers sound more realistic, they play louder with lower distortion, and they have better and deeper bass than small speakers. Then again, I'm an audiophile, so I prioritize sound quality over almost everything else. I also know big speakers are out of the question for most folks, but what if there were a reasonably sized speaker that produced big-speaker sound? The Atlantic Technology AT-2 is such a speaker.

It was just last year when Atlantic's AT-1 tower speaker ($3,000 a pair) rocked the audiophile world and garnered a slew of rave reviews, so when I heard the smaller AT-2 ($1,800 a pair) was about to be released I just had to get it for review. It did not disappoint. … Read more

Bose, create a groundbreaking product? Sure, the company's got some really nice headphones and decent sound systems that are just a tad overpriced. But Bose? Since when does Bose make a game-changer?

Since it came out with its compact Bluetooth speaker, the SoundLink Wireless Mobile, that's when. No, it's not the iPhone or anything, but it may just be the iPhone of portable Bluetooth speakers. … Read more

Add one more portable Bluetooth speaker to the growing list as JBL has announced that its mini UFO speaker, the On Tour iBT, is now available for $199.99.

The On Tour iBT weighs slightly more than a pound, is battery-powered and comes with a tabletop stand to "display an iPad in portrait or landscape mode so it can serve as an impromptu home theater or the audio output to a video conference."

While JBL is certainly eyeing iPad owners as its target audience, the unit works just fine with Android tablets and smartphones, as well as any … Read more

In the early days of the iPhone, Bose was one of the first major companies to make a big push into the iPhone/iPod speaker dock market with its SoundDock. Now the company is hoping to reach an even larger, platform-agnostic audience with a new portable Bluetooth speaker, the SoundLink Wireless Mobile.

As with all of Bose's significant launches, the company takes great care in introducing its product to the media, with a carefully orchestrated presentation followed by hands-on demos using iOS and Android Bluetooth-enabled devices. The top of the Trump Soho was the stage for the SoundLink Wireless … Read more

The first thing you'll notice about the compact Olasonic TW-S7 PC speakers is that they have a unique, eye-catching egg-shaped design. As far as colors go, you can go with black or white, and both versions have a nice glossy finish and come with circular rubber stands that keep the speakers standing, cupping the speakers like an egg holder does. They stand a shade less than 6 inches tall.

We liked their design and also liked the fact that these are USB-powered speakers, which means you just plug them into a USB port on your Windows or Mac PC and you're good to go, no power adapter required. … Read more

Last year's Audyssey iPod/iPhone Audio Dock was named for the South of Market neighborhood in San Francisco. This time the company has gone east, naming its new $199.99 Lower East Side Media Speakers for the Manhattan neighborhood. (We'll use "LES" for short.)

Why the Lower East Side?

Well, the marketers behind the speakers were inspired by the neighborhood's gritty "tenement-lined streets that have been home to immigrants from nearly every country since the neighborhood's inception" and rich musical history that included such "hallowed venues" as CBGB, ABC No … Read more

Logitech, which makes plenty of PC speakers, has now moved into the tablet arena with the aptly named Logitech Tablet Speaker.

In case you're wondering, this isn't a Bluetooth speaker. It actually clips on to your tablet and has a jack that plugs into the headphone port.

While it isn't wireless, at least it doesn't require a power adapter: the built-in rechargeable battery drives the speaker for up to 8 hours and charges via USB.

We got a quick look and listen to the speaker at a recent Logitech preview event and it certainly offered better … Read more

The Wharfedale Diamond 10.1 is easily the best speaker I've heard for $350 per pair. Wharfedale started making loudspeakers in 1932, which makes it the second-oldest still-surviving speaker manufacturer in the world (Tannoy is the oldest). The entry-level Diamond Series speakers debuted some 49 years later; the Diamond 10.1 we're reviewing today is from the latest incarnation of the line.

Wharfedale not only designs and builds all of its own woofers and tweeters in-house, it also designs and manufactures nearly every part of its speakers, including the crossover networks' resistors and capacitors. Even the bolts that … Read more

I worked in the high-end audio business for 16 years before I started writing about home theater and high-end audio. I've heard literally thousands of products, and while I've forgotten most of them, there were lots of standouts. I remember the first time I heard a high-end turntable, a Linn LP-12, and was shocked not only by its sound quality, but how it somehow hushed record surface noise, pops, and clicks. Yes, they were still there, but the noises didn't intrude as much as they do with lesser turntables.

When I was selling hi-fis, some of my customers would ask me to recommend a speaker or some other product for them. They'd say, "What do you like?" or "What's your favorite $500 speaker." Fair questions, but my answers wouldn't be all that useful. Personal taste, music preferences, room size, aesthetics, and other factors all play their roles, so my favorites wouldn't likely match my customer's needs. My role as a salesman was to help them find just the right speaker, amplifier, or turntable to fit their exact needs, not mine. It's like asking someone to pick a color for a couch or an ice cream flavor.

John Atkinson's very positive review of the Harbeth P3ESR speaker in the August 2010 issue of Stereophile magazine put me on this line of thought. The very first line of the review, "Everyone wants something different from a loudspeaker." sums up the situation nicely. Atkinson went on to point out that some listeners crave accuracy, some dynamic punch or deep, room-shaking bass, while others prize precisely focused stereo imaging. And unless you're very rich, you can't have it all, you have to prioritize the things that get your juices flowing, and downplay other aspects of sound.

Audiophiliac readers and friends query me about this all the time. "What's the best .....?" or they want a recommendation and the plain fact is, there are no simple answers to those questions. You have to listen for yourself, but brick-and-mortar stores, where you can actually compare A vs. B vs. C speakers are fading fast. People shop online to get the best deal, and rely to some degree on reviews to point them in the right direction.… Read more